Sunday Morning Service (I Kings 13)

I Kings 13

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"The Lengths Of Grace"  •  2.26.17  •  Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- As we enter chapter 13, Israel is a divided Kingdom. Rehoboam rules over Judah and Jeroboam rules over Israel. Rehoboam is a stubborn fool and Jeroboam is a dedicated idolator.

- Despite having a personal promise from God, Jeroboam provides a new and improved system of worship that he thinks will prolong his life and serve the convenience of his people.

- How will God respond to him? What measures will He take to reach Jeroboam? We'll discover that as we pore over chapter 13. Verse 1.

 Text

• I Kings 13:1 : "And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense." : God sends an anonymous man from Judah to the southern "worship" site of Israel in Bethel.

- It's quite curious that the "man of God" is an unknown man to us. Attempts have been made to identify him, but to no real purpose and entirely by speculation.

- The importance of his entrance into the story is the fact that God chose to employ him, an unknown, for significant service, namely, to reach out to the King of Israel.

- God again seeks an audience with Jeroboam even after he had utterly rejected His ways!

- The Bible is replete with examples of God's dogged faithfulness in seeking to reach His wayward people.

- He goes to great lengths, unwilling to simply concede a battle when the state of a soul is in jeopardy.

- He has come by the word of the Lord having been commissioned by God to enter the proverbial lion's den. He is there to proclaim God's opinion of Jeroboam's religion.

- For his part, It's debatable whether or not he had any prevenient knowledge of all that was to occur. The worshippers at Bethel have been deceived and have committed themselves to error.

- It also happens that King Jeroboam is at this particular altar burning incense, worshipping! The King is not merely an adherant of this religious exercise. He is it's President and founder!

  - This is the man of God's audience! He knows now that he has the duty of speaking to the man that has the potential power to destroy him! What would you do? Look at what he did in verse 2.

• I Kings 13:2,3 : "Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, 'O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.’ And he gave a sign the same day, saying, 'This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.'" : He cried out, the sense being that he called out in a loud voice and kept calling out, expressing God's charge against the altar and what it represented!

- Is this incredible courage or incredible fear?  Is he willing to boldly follow the Lord or is he too afraid to fail Him? I'd say that the answer is "yes!"

- What we can say definitively is that he wasn't afraid of the people or the King of Israel!

- How I wish for people like this! Lord bring those that are willing to walk into the belly of the beast and boldly proclaim Your word without hesitation and without concern for the consequence!

- This man's prophecy concerns the altar and it's pending destruction by a King who will rule over Judah in 350 years. We'll read about in II Kings 23. Jeroboam does not know about this.

- In his mind, this might happen imminently! Imagine his fear and paranoia especially at the fact that it will be a King of Judah that will effect these stunning changes!

- Josiah will remove the bones of those that served as false religious priests from their graves and burn them on the altar at Bethel!

- That is the prophecy and the sign affirming it was that the altar would be split in half. How would Jeroboam respond to this? Verse 4.

• I Kings 13:4-6 : "So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, 'Arrest him!' Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. Then the king answered and said to the man of God, 'Please entreat the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.' So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before." : Predictably, Jeroboam wasn't at all pleased with the messenger and sought to suppress his voice. Isn't that exactly like a person given over to their own desires?

- Instead of listening to the Word of God as a measure of gracious correction, Jeroboam immediately seeks to minimize or silence the messenger!

- He does not want to hear or believe that God is displeased with his religion.

- Jeroboam shows no heart of conviction. Instead, he raises his hand to stop him. Remember that this isn't his first prophetic visitation.

- We can't imagine someone not wanting to surrender their will to Him once they are made aware of it. Unfortunately, Jeroboam is the rule and not the exception!

- How many divine circumstances have converged upon wayward people that the Lord has designed to touch? How many have heard dozens of convicting messages and almost surrendered?

- Jeroboam reminds us that it is never a matter of witness. A soul is won or lost by the grace of God and it is a miracle when it occurs!

- As he was stretching out his hand to point to the man of God, his arm withered and was stuck in it's place. The word refers to drying up in a state of instant paralysis!

- Can you imagine what that might have felt like and how immediately debilitating that would be? His arm stood out lifeless and no matter how he tried, it wouldn't return to it's place.

- God is allowing his hard heart to manifest itself in his body! His arm represented the paralyzed heart that sat within him! And then God continued his assault on Jeroboam's senses.

- The altar that Jeroboam had invested in, that he had just been worshipping at, split in two. It seems to be that it was ripped in two and that the ashes that were collecting poured out of it.

- Jeroboam had no doubt in his mind that God had spoken, voicing His displeasure over the altar in Bethel and in Dan! There was to be no confusion!

- Without any commitment to the God of Judah, without any sign of repentance, Jeroboam asks the prophet to pray that his hand might be restored. What amazing gall!

- God has just put Jeroboam's idol in his place. Why did he not ask the golden calf to restore his arm? He knew that his only hope was from the true and living God!

- The true and living God came into Jeroboam's house of idolatry and revealed who was God and who was not!

- Consequently, when he is in personal dire straits, knowing that it is God who has afflicted him, he asks to be restored.

- In God's wonderful grace, He does. He takes that dead arm and brings life to it again!

- How often has God been so gracious to a person, touching upon their superficial, secondary requests, only to find that once they have seen their trouble go, they forget the God they cried to!

- One could only wish that it had led to what had been the desired effect! Jeroboam gets his arm back but like most in the same condition, won't turn his heart. Verse 7.

• I Kings 13:7-10 : "Then the king said to the man of God, 'Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.' But the man of God said to the king, 'If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’ So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel." : Jeroboam either wants to appropriately thank the man of God or save face by seeking to retain his services. "A true prophet would really come in handy!"  

- You might be able to discern a bit about why one would want to be a "prophet" in Jeroboam's Kingdom. The King would give you a reward for your prophetic service! This isn't unusual.

- You'll recall from the book of Numbers that Balaam was an itinerate prophet who was accustomed to performing for the right price. Such men are always around!

- As with Balaam, this man of God responds that you could give him half of what you were worth and he would not go! Unlike Balaam, this man was actually true to his word!

- He was resolved to follow the Lord's instructions to a tee! He was to go directly to the altar and leave from the altar by a different route without making any stops to eat.

- Eating and drinking with a person in the mind of the ancient world, was akin to endorsing their activities and entering into deep fellowship. The message would be contradicted by the action.

- The King doesn't argue with him so the man turns around and heads out in another direction.

• I Kings 13:11-14a : "Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. And their father said to them, 'Which way did he go?' For his sons had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah. Then he said to his sons, 'Saddle the donkey for me.' So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak." : Did you notice that this old prophet "dwelt" in Bethel? What a strange place for a prophet to live!

- Stranger still, his sons were eyewitnesses to the man of God's actions! What were they doing at the idolatrous shrine? Certainly it implicates the old prophet and explains God's actions.

- God brought a man from Judah because this man and those that lived in Bethel were compromised! He had neither the courage nor the will to stand as the man of God had stood!

- As such, the old prophet is placed on the shelf, no longer useful to the Lord. What a dreaded thing to consider! No wonder he is eager to find this true man of God.

• I Kings 13:14b-19 : "Then he said to him, 'Are you the man of God who came from Judah?' And he said, 'I am.' Then he said to him, 'Come home with me and eat bread.' And he said, 'I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. For I have been told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ He said to him, 'I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ (He was lying to him.) So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water." : When the old prophet invited the man of God back for dinner nothing has changed.

- The man of God is fastidously following the course that the Lord set out for him.

- The old prophet, sensing that he will not benefit from his contemporary's presence reaches deeply into his bag of tricks beginning with an appeal to fellowship.

- "I too am a prophet as you are." The fact that they shared a lonely profession was inviting. Add the man's age and the appeal was heightened. "Surely, he has wisdom I can benefit from."

- Maybe the old prophet saw that this wasn't enough, so he moves into an appeal to the supernatural. "An angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord."

- This was what got the man of God's attention, not discerning that the old prophet had just lied to him straight faced.

- We can't be sure what took place in the heart of the man of God. Was he so worn down by the journey that he accepted without discernment?

- He fell in a way that is most relevant to us today. He failed to understand that God's Word never changes and if He did change it, He would have communicated it first hand.

- Additionally, God never contradicts Himself. "Should I stay or should I go?" If God has said one, then the other is not possible! With this established, understand the implication for us.

- Since God's Word speaks with authority regarding God's character and our actions, then we are duty bound to reject any appeal to new revelation.

- There is a wide spectrum that this applies to, from the cultic madness of the Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses, to the rampant foolishness of the prosperity preacher.

- Both appeal to extra biblical sources of revelation, the former to books and magazines written to propogandize their adherants, the latter to "rhema words" for today.

- Beware of men that speak as though they have just received a personal commique from God!

- These are the extremes, but we must beware of the subtle as well. Consider the Christian books which claim heavenly visitation or offer comfort by way of unbiblical theodicy.

- When Paul rebuked the Galatian believers for their quick abandonment of fundamental Christian belief, he did so by cursing anyone, even an angel, that contradicted their teaching!

- The man of God should have know these things. His failure will cost him dearly. Verse 20.

• I Kings 13:20-23 : "Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, 'Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you, 'Eat no bread and drink no water,' your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’" : Can you imagine this moment?  The whole group is seated, and the food is distributed.

- The old prophet has an announcement to make pertaining to the man of God, his guest of honor:  "Because you disobeyed the word of the Lord, you will die before you reach your home!"

- What would you have thought or said at that moment? There is the great shock when the old prophet discloses his lie.

- I hope that this truly teaches you and I the eternal lesson: It's not what you accomplish for God that sets you apart. It is your faithful obedience that is counted!

- It's never about how you start. It's about how you are finishing that matters! This man began wonderfully but will come to his end tragically! Verse 24.

• I Kings 13:24,25 : "So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back.  When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt." : For the man of God, there was an acceptance of his failure to obey. He eats his final meal and takes his leave. There isn't a single word recorded for us!

- The text seems to indicate that he wasn't gone long when he enountered the lion that brought his life to an end. From there, the story gets a little strange.

- The lion neither consumes the man nor the donkey! Both the lion and the donkey stand watch over the the man as the Lord perfectly preserves the scene for the old prophet to discover. Verse 26.

• I Kings 13:26-32 : "Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, 'It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord. Therefore the Lord has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.' And he spoke to his sons, saying, 'Saddle the donkey for me.' So they saddled it. Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey. And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. So the old prophet came to the city to mourn, and to bury him. Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb; and they mourned over him, saying, 'Alas, my brother!' So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, 'When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the saying which he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the shrines on the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come to pass.'" : The lying prophet explains that the man of God was now dead because of his disobedience.

- Think of how this chapter began: Here is this daring man of God who prophecied at the profane altar of Jeroboam with the King standing there.

- Here, he is the disobedient prophet, laying out in the sun, lying in the road between two animals, having died because of his disobedience to follow God's simple instruction!

- Is that not a danger to us? Perhaps you and I are willing to go into the belly of the beast, but are more likely to stumble in our daily walk! Let us be warned: Difficult or simple, it is obedience!

- When they brought him into the city, they wept and mourned over him. The old prophet went so far as to proclaim his desire to be buried next to this man because his prophecy would come true!

- You are likely wrestling with the same questions that I have: Why did the man of God have to die this way? Why did Jeroboam and the old prophet get off without so much as a slap on the hand?

- The Bible does not offer a clear explanation on that point. One could look at a few principles and comment that "to whom much is given, much is required" or "it is dangerous to sin against light!"

- Either way, the man of God was taken to be with God, while Jeroboam and the old prophet had a new chance to turn from their ways, recognizing again the severity of God!

- God has just allowed for a man that has served him to die. What would he do to these men who had neither served or obeyed Him at all?

- It's possible that the old prophet, in declaring his desire to be buried alongside of the man of God, was repentant and returned to serve the Lord. Jeroboam was a different story. Verse 33.

• I Kings 13:33,34 : "After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth." : Jeroboam went right back into the same habits, making a mockery of what God consider righteous.

- It seems that he went right back to what he was doing, appointing anyone who applied to the priesthood to holy service.

- He even went so far as to take on the role of a priest of himself! By his own choices, he set himself, his religious system and his Kingdom up for utter desecration.

Conclusion

- What can you say about this chapter? For those with a stubborn Jeroboam in their life, remember that God will never give up!

- He'll keep sending His servants their way, arranging choice encounters and allowing supernatural interruptions into their lives.

- If they will bend the knee to the Lord, it will be His doing. If they resist, it will be theirs!

- For those who are in the position of the old prophet, recall that proximity to the world is compromise and grounds for God's choice of another!

- If you are called of God to speak out against something vile in His sight, may you not be found on the outside looking in, wondering what happened, getting second hand information!

- You might have to settle for being old, but never forget that you carry prophetic credentials!

- Finally, we are left to consider the man of God. Recognize that he began this chapter as a faithful, bold servant and he ends the chapter as a disgraced disobedient servant!

- Which will you be? What are you today? Will you be the servant that God will call upon to face down His most ardent foe or will you be a story that stands as a warning to all? Let's pray!